Chapter 36 of Excuse Me! is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter 36 of Excuse Me! is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
HANDS UP! All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade. His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence. He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted. He sat absent-mindedly patting Marjorie on the back and repeating:
Chapter 36 of Excuse Me! is here in full — 173 sentences across 35 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/34 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
plural of “defeat” — an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest
From this reading “His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.”
having a strong distaste from surfeit
From this reading “He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted.”
extremely painful
From this reading “His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.”
uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
From this reading “His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.”
to a high degree; extremely; in high concentration or density
From this reading “He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted.”
inflected form of “pat” — pat or squeeze fondly or playfully, especially under the chin
From this reading “He sat absent-mindedly patting Marjorie on the back and repeating:”
freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities
From this reading “His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.”
deprived of courage and strength
From this reading “His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He sat absent-mindedly patting Marjorie on the back and repeating:
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
the act of concealing yourself and lying in wait to attack by surprise
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading He sat absent-mindedly patting Marjorie on the back and repeating:
the past participle of “be”
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
plural of “defeat” — an unsuccessful ending to a struggle or contest
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
having a strong distaste from surfeit
From this reading He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted.
plural of “experience” — the accumulation of knowledge or skill that results from direct participation in events or activities
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading HANDS UP!
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
extremely painful
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
to a high degree; extremely; in high concentration or density
From this reading He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted.
a commissioned military officer
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He sat absent-mindedly patting Marjorie on the back and repeating:
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
any person in the armed services who holds a position of authority or command
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He sat absent-mindedly patting Marjorie on the back and repeating:
the time that has elapsed
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
inflected form of “pat” — pat or squeeze fondly or playfully, especially under the chin
From this reading He sat absent-mindedly patting Marjorie on the back and repeating:
the act of doing or performing again
From this reading He sat absent-mindedly patting Marjorie on the back and repeating:
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading He sat absent-mindedly patting Marjorie on the back and repeating:
freedom from doubt; belief in yourself and your abilities
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
ruined or disrupted
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
the process of using your mind to consider something carefully
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading All this time Lieutenant Mallory had been thinking as hard as an officer in an ambuscade.
deprived of courage and strength
From this reading His harrowing experiences and incessant defeats of the past days had unnerved him and shattered his self-confidence.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading HANDS UP!
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was not afraid, but intensely disgusted.
Chapter 36 of Excuse Me! by Rupert Hughes holds 173 sentences, grouped into 35 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 36 holds 173 sentences of Excuse Me!, unabridged, divided into 35 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 36 of Excuse Me! by Rupert Hughes exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 173 sentences, grouped into 35 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 35 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 35 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 36 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Excuse Me! by Rupert Hughes on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4574 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #40607 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #40607, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 381 minutes of reading across 915 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Excuse Me! section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Excuse Me! to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Excuse Me!, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
